it can give you. more. than the. the week's top stories right here on our team british special forces soldiers released by libyan opposition as it appears imminent for military intervention in the country. think we'd be in iraq if that major export there was broccoli experts say calls for military action in libya are being driven by skyrocketing fuel prices in the u.s. . we are in an information war and we are losing that war winning hearts and minds of broad hillary clinton asked for more funding to spread the u.s. message overseas as more people turn to alternative sources for new. and russian law enforcement gets a make over in a bid to regain public trust

a major reforms see the forces renamed and officers retrain. and get welcome and this is our team where we bring you the top news in headlines from around the world first to libya where british soldiers were released after being seized by anti could off the forces as more western worship's and planes move closer to the country at least six special air service soldiers were in the eastern part of the country escorting a diplomat who was supposed to negotiate with the rebels the opposition leadership said they were outraged by the incident seen it as a foreign intervention into libya's internal affairs this comes as the country slips closer to civil war with fighting intensifying with reports of airstrikes and heavy weaponry all asleep more. on saturday the libyan leader moammar gadhafi

launched a fresh military offensive he's trying to retake some of the towns he's lost in the past eighteen days of fighting there were some seventy people killed those are the latest reports we're receiving and more than three hundred people injured with a ports of strikes and live ammunition and growing fears that libya is descending into civil war now many of the media in europe and in the united states has been supporting the rebels there have been editorials in major american and european newspapers actually calling on the waist to support the rebels and attack gadhafi the latest word we hearing is that the western media is trying to portray the duffys forces as losing and the opposition forces winning but as you can see from these pictures it certainly is not clear who has the upper hand there are also analysts who are pushing forward the opinion that the western media is so anti gadhafi because he has taken such

a strong stand in the past against western interference in developing countries relations word from the british government is that it is confirming that it is considering and is on standby to deploy its forces within twenty four hours of says that these forces will be used for humanitarian and evacuation purposes and not for any kind of military intervention the latest word we have from the u.s. is that its two warships have a lift crease and according to a statement they issued they are part of the military buildup around libya now we also know that france to the united kingdom are putting pressure on the united nations security council to make a decision on a no fly zone parties are reporting for us and they're now emberg peace activist after young things western leaders who supported gadhafi in recent years should be brought to justice. the new liberal agenda that has been followed by many countries and which has led in the end to

a kind of civil war or war situation new liberal agenda means selling the oil resources of foreign investors and basically. cutting down the spending on any kind of social program that's all part of the logic of all element of globalization. and your liberal agenda what should happen next. would be nice to see some western leaders who have been in close alliance with colonel gadhafi for the last ten years or at least should be brought to trial. trends forecaster gerald someone says it's not an support for the libyan people but interest in the country's vast oil fields that's driving us rhetoric and action. the only reason they're interested in libya is about that you oil we hear anybody screaming and yelling about all those april last week they were killed in the ivory coast. and i guess cocoa was that that you know of much of

a national priority they'll try anything but we already heard hillary clinton say that they're willing to do anything for anybody in libya that needs aid so they appear pretty good out there already they talking about no fly zones and the hypocrisy is just beyond the belief i mean for example they did has anybody called for a war criminal trials against mubarak as they are. and you know in all of the the world is the western world of calling for his head but the other heads in bahrain and in yamin and in egypt they are you know they're ok chimneys you leave them alone but they're calling for gadhafi said why because it's soil yet think we'd be in iraq if their major export there was broccoli as the arab world continues to sink into chaos the cost of oil is jumping to new heights

experts claim the skyrocketing prices in the u.s. are threatening the country's economy and as our he's learned lyster discovered the hike in energy costs could see the obama administration come under fire. ok tunisia. egypt. the hurricane. algeria. libya protest in country seeming to fuel one another unrest spreading like wildfire through the middle east and north africa all raging in or near boil rich countries that help fuel the world's use of more than eighty four million barrels of crude a day. uncertainty over production has set prices soaring nina shock waves from the middle east turmoil are being felt worldwide now the mideast crisis is hitting home for outrage americans as oil prices have skyrocketed so too

have the prices people pay for gasoline and now the price americans pay at the pump is threatening to derail the u.s. economic recovery a surge in oil. prices will be the end of the u.s. economy not just an end to the recovery there's no more bailouts what a reality peak oil expert michael c. rupert sees happening it boil hits one hundred fifty dollars a barrel which he believes is inevitable this year others predicted going to two hundred twenty dollars it's so devastating because oil. fuels more than just cars. it fuels the entire global economy. though there's no doubt that if gas goes to five dollars a gallon for americans asked some predict there would be a high political price to pay for the obama administration and you know gasoline prices go up and much and for

a very long period it could. be your or. your political impact here there is no denying the u.s. has played a role in the events that have transpired in the middle east. every time u.s. president barack obama went to the podium calling for this that there must be reform political social and economic reforms that meet the aspirations of the egyptian people and calling for egyptian president hosni mubarak's resignation he was calling for an end to the status quo which means a ride in uncertainty and rich region so did leaders weigh the toll it could take on their own economy some argue they don't have the power to their kind of waning back up trying to push their back against an avalanche and i don't think we're going to hear a lot of success and that may not stop the u.s. from trying to take control some observers believe the u.s. may intervene militarily in libya or oil reserves are massive under false pretenses

of helping protesting people has nothing to do with interest or people it has everything to do with the interest of the u.s. corporate oil corporations military corporate profits either way analysts say the price of fuel going up will simply fuel public rage and the government is largely helpless the american people are going for a very nasty ride and there's no way out of it now but i can tell you the government understands that it's coming lauren mr r.t. new york so ahead for you this hour the man who changed the course of history for the u.s. i saw it. he really could get a lot of the i don't agree with people see that historic you failed it didn't fail it was destructive archie looks into the legacy of the soviet union's first and only president mikhail gorbachev who celebrated his eightieth birthday this week.

and we explore why the british are wary of an upcoming nationwide census over fears their personal information might end up in the hands of u.s. authorities. hundreds of. people flooded the streets of afghanistan's capital to protest over the deaths of nine children killed in a nato air raid last week protesters directing their anger at the u.s. occupation and afghan government demonstrations follow the country's president karzai his condemnation of the killings protests are continuing apologies from president obama and military officials civilian casualties are a sensitive issue in afghanistan where over one hundred innocent afghans have been killed in nato military operations in recent weeks political activist daoud sultanzoy explains why the alliance can't hope with its gender making matters worse for afghans. it's very difficult to translate these apologies into into really

meaningful. things to victims' families these are casualties that have been happening for too many years and there are too many civilian casualties the people of afghanistan the civilians are the victims of both nato civilian casualties and the terrorists too said bombings and what. targeting our civilian areas and the people of afghanistan are tired of both the hearts of the people of afghanistan or at the hands of two incompetent players one player is in the international community and one player is the afghan government and both players are incompetent and ignorant about the true meaning of hearts and minds the intention of this war was to fight terror but the people of afghanistan have become the victim of terror the united states and coalition forces have to do much better and they have to also hold the afghan side also at a higher standard in this case both the afghan government and the international

community are held responsible in the eyes and in the eyes of people who understand that was sultanzoy a political activist in kabul who. speaking to us earlier now hillary clinton says the u.s. is losing an information war to foreign media outlets including our t.v. this week the secretary of state asked congress for more cash to step up america's efforts to get its message across and it should count reports war declared the u.s. is now officially in an information battle with foreign media which provide alternative views on world news views which often running contrast to the coverage of events by the us mainstream media we are in an information war and we are losing that war i'll be very blunt in my assessment al-jazeera is winning. the chinese have opened up a global english language and multi language television network the russians have opened

up an english language network i've seen it in a few countries and it's quite instructive we are cutting back the b.b.c. is cutting back some five years ago western media outlets including d.t.c. and c.n.n. had a near monopoly in the coverage of world news things have changed since then more and more viewers across the world can into various foreign media to get a fresh take on events clearly the united states feels on the defensive in part because we can no longer monopolize not only the terms of you know the soroti in these countries but also the terms of the debate there's other information out there other points of view and those points of view are profoundly damaging to a country that believes that its point of view is the only point of view or should be the only point of view r.t. presence on you tube is one example almost three hundred million views as opposed to c.n.n. that has around three million archy's constantly growing audience is already an

indication to many that the days of media monopoly are over and people demanded more people are approach to news into the real commitment to the kind of freedom of the universe speech that we really need if we're going to be in a democracy at home and in you know a community of nations overseas and now the administration is seeking more funding to step up u.s. propaganda efforts abroad during the cold war we did a great job in getting america's message out after the berlin wall fell we said ok fine enough of that you know we've done it we're done and unfortunately we are paying a big price for it last year the head of the agency that manages the us government who are an international broadcasting asked for more money for his department we care allow ourselves to be out communicated by. anime's the list of enemies included gosh china iran and venezuela walter isaacson the head of the sea which

runs words of american and other media outlets later backtracked on this statement isaacson speech for more funding seemed even more unconvincing considering his agency has a budget of seven hundred fifty million dollars and it's way more than the budget of r t iran's press t.v. and venezuela's tell us who are combining probably money alone can't provide global will be a cloud walter isaacson's speech last year sent quite a hostile message to foreign media exposing shortcomings in the us mainstream but separate thing from statements made it official the us is fighting a global information war i don't suppose i'm going to start our reporting from washington or to. the last leader of the soviet union me while i go to charge of celebrated his eightieth birthday this week known as a die hard advocate for peace his name has become symbolic with the end of the cold war president dmitry medvedev marked gorbachev by awarding him one of russia's highest honors seeking to create a more open and prosperous u.s.s.r.

his initiatives ranged from introducing free speech to a massive overhaul of the state's economy is also famed for his leading role in scrapping the berlin wall and in the reunification of germany in one thousand nine hundred his efforts were awarded with the nobel peace prize but barely a year later the soviet union collapsed some critics blame his unfinished reforms for the disorder and turmoil that plagued russia in the one nine hundred ninety s. while others resent him for destroying the powerhouse that was the u.s.s.r. could despite the criticism the former leader still says russia was in desperate need of change. your truth and i don't agree with you totally the perestroika failed it didn't fail it was disrupted the rails stocks still perestroika cheap a lot of people realized they had finally got some freedom an opportunity to act inside. sure we had democracy free elections and freedom of conscience private property freedom to travel abroad everything in foreign affairs we put an end to

the cold war we normalized our relationship with the u.s. we reunited germany we didn't send our tanks our troops there all our units in eastern europe states where they work and it wasn't always easy and many things did not work out the way we planned and so at the beginning when we made our first mistakes we didn't really explain to people what was going on and didn't get them involved in all those processes we were self-confident. and of course you can catch the full interview with me go to char along with many of our other exclusives on our web site at ardsley dot com. now the u.k. is preparing for a nationwide census to take place later this month the government says it will help provide the services and resources people need but involvement of a controversial u.s. defense corporation leaves many fearing their privacy could be violated or at reports. it's census time in the u.k. where every household in the country is asked to provide detailed information about

their lives to the government so they can keep track of what's going on and who will be in charge of this sensitive data. yes it's controversial u.s. arms manufacturer a lot martin and campaigners ranging from religious groups to peace activists to data protection lobbyists are really against it on ethical grounds to play on a number of oppressive regimes they also. tell us heavily in the wars they fought in iraq and afghanistan opposed by the majority of people in britain even if supported by the british parliament hill vows to boycott the census despite the risk of prosecution he says he won't be alone look he makes land mines and nuclear weapons and contracts out interrogation of kuantan of a bay although it will be the u.k. arm that carries out the survey there's still

a worry that the information could fall under the auspices of the us patriot act which compels personal data held by any company on systems in the us to be made available to government intelligence the office for national statistics which in gauged lockheed martin maintains it's taken measures to make sure u.s. authorities can't access the data. well dancer process will be carried out in the u.k. no dancer will leave or be held at any point outside the u.k. no lockheed martin staff will have access to any personal census data all data is the property of you and and only u.k.e. you owned companies will have any access to personal census data it's that last point that's raise red flags for data protection lobbyists who say that all the private information collected during the census will be available to practically any organization that requests it any use on that any statute. any

use by the security intelligence services for national security purposes any use for the pursuit of troy any use in pursuit of an e u community organisations so any e.u. rules that information can be passed over so it's essentially any government use whatsoever of confidentiality is being abolished and u.k. government agencies don't exactly have a great track record when it comes to safeguarding information three years ago a file containing secret terror related documents was left on a train more recently the national health service lost the medical records of tens of thousands of people thanks to lockheed martin's involvement in the sensors it would be hard for the u.s. authorities to lay their hands on that information if they wanted a tip in the said says it is used by the government to award grants to local councils and recognize new groups in society that census is run by lockheed martin raises grave concerns in britain about ethics and its national security if

a lot of people boycott this that says it will make it ineffective and a waste of money but the two hundred forty million dollar contracts amount will go into looking at martins pockets anyway for your average hearty loved it. still to come here is one vote that's got the attention of russia's prime minister. some of moscow women depicted the pm and for their least a party theme get some highlights coming up in just a bit. now for now for a look at some other major headlines from around the world farewells for two space crews and for discovery the hatches of the shuttle discovery and the international space station have been closed marking the beginning of the last trip for the oldest and most traveled american spacecraft thanks discovery will undock later on monday and is scheduled to touch down in florida on wednesday the mission saw astronauts deliver the first ever humanoid robot into space to assist with

scientific research shuttles endeavor and atlantis are planned to make their final trip to the next so the u.s. space shuttle program to a net we can see just. japan's foreign minister has resigned after all physician uproar over a political donation he got from a foreign national. admitted accepting almost twenty five hundred dollars from a south korean citizen a resident in japan and some of the small but japanese that law bans politicians from accepting money from outsiders to protect the country from foreign influence his resignation strikes a blow to the current prime minister no joke on we saw richard as his successor. several people have been injured after clashes between police and students in the capital of bangladesh officers armed with tear gas and baton charge the angry crowds after they began to smash the vehicles and young arrest began over the death of a twenty five year old student in a road accident. russian law enforcement was given

a much needed make over this week with public trust in the force sinking to an all time low it's hoped new reforms and a name change will be turned into credibility and as you know as are the reports there's a lot riding on the overhaul beyond paperwork and cosmetics. a change of title and hopefully a change in attitudes these lines force and officers are abandoning their soviet era name of meats are in favor of the modern world the recognizable police for the government it's a first step down a long road towards modernizing the service and arresting a sharp decline in public perception with people stressed of the boys in blue has been dealt a huge blow in recent years it's led to anxiety amongst officers and outrage from knows they're supposed to protect incidents like a supermarket rampage by officer cough who opened fire on innocent shoppers killing two and wounding seven it was the final straw that fueled calls for reform but can

changing their name bring about a change in behavior while some insist that any change is long overdue for others it's purely cosmetic of the very fact that there were so many accidents with police officers behaving illegally in russia during the years. this very purpose not going to be changed by the change of the law because these illegal practices were concret of the previous legislation as well as cauldron of the current work the big question is whether there is the political will. they get of the control of police themselves though are preparing for the changes to come up with a huge part of our ratings will depend on the people of this country how they value each album formants this kernel is already grasping the essence of modernizing the force her students seem eager to absorb as much information before their upcoming

exams so that it was the work of everyone will be tested physical ability knowledge of new civic duties all those are included in new exams there will be no in jordan says for anyone either pass the test or leave the force other changes are a mixed blessing there. b. a twenty percent cut in personnel but the remaining officers will get a pay rise there will be better screening of new recruits with every detail of an applicant's background put under the microscope but until all that takes effect officers have to knuckle down to the job in hand restoring honor to russia's police is a tough task and the public are no pushover judges but the force is determined to turn that around reexamining staff redesigning uniforms all those changes will take a lot of time to be fully and said one of the first things that change will be signs like these which soon will feature internationally recognizable policing casuarinas are. of course you can always find more on our website origin dot com

and online right now we have this for you. russians are celebrating the last day of a muscle relaxer penalty week filling up before fasting for lead. and to see russia's latest a fighter jet put through its paces that's on its maiden flight. a moscow nightclub has sparked controversy by hosting a putin party without the prime minister's permission organizers say the theme was chosen by their female clients as part of this week's international women's day celebrations and as sarah first found out the russian name can really draw a crowd. thank . you so by now although

a bit of fun is exactly this type of. there is a possibility of legal. mr prime minister himself and all of us working with him we are trying to be very careful about not letting his name being used in proper proper sense. he himself is favoring the cases where his name is used for the promotion of a healthier way of living for promotion let's say eight children for promoting whatever useful but certainly i mean using his name for promoting a party in a private club in my opinion is a proper. theme of the party which was. the name of the prime minister was chosen by the public surpassing the names of trigger. this is not

a commercial about we knew that it might be controversial but we decided to throw it anyway. they're only saying that they think that that. amazed at. the nightclub has nothing do with mr promoter but a really good idea. i think if you. go back to washington to. press attention to make some money. they. think it's a lot of. countries i had thought that the guy the great guy. add to this the body i will never live it is not a bad guy but i never. really went to my god that was the best that is the crime and there's no way i am as i cannot survive this as if god is that there's ready

thanks a lot of it had said and a great fan of those. surfers reporting there and of course it seemed like a very interesting time i'll be back with a recap of the weeks have gone it's interesting it's. the.